An exhaustive and authoritative investigation into the Christadelphians with links from their own sources as well as insights from former members. Complete examination of their history, organisation, theology, practices, and the challenges they face.

Preaching the Signs of the Times

This is a well known Christadelphian speaker and preacher, Duncan Heaster, preaching the signs of the times for them
in 1983.

Writing about this on a Facebook forum, Christadelphians Worldwide, he now advises a newer Christadelphian
to be
more wary than he was:

Thanks Wim but I think the implication of your position is that if we study hard
enough we can come to a predicted chronology of events in the last days and then
just watch it happen. But nobody has yet come up with it- most prophetic predictions
by our community have not come true. A few guesses have, but the vast majority of
expectations related to events and prophecies have proven wrong. Secondly, if there
is a cast iron set of events to happen, then what about the freewill of Israel and
the nations to repent or not? What if Israel immediately and totally repent at the
preaching of the latter day Elijah? The prophetic program is going to look different.
Just as Nineveh repented, and so the program looked different.

As a young man I was of the dogmatic persuasion that we were to preach prophecy,
in those days it was about Russia and the USSR, and 'the return of Christ is imminent'
but those things never happened- the USSR broke up and didn't invade Israel. Here's
a picture of me in London's Hyde Park in 1983. I was a well meaning and sincere
false prophet... along with most of Christadelphia... I just mention this to show
that in making my comments about your position I do not place myself above you in
any way, my point is that I made the same mistakes, but we have to learn from them.

In a change of emphasis to the historical Christadelphian approach of seeking to
convert people using current events interpreted as fulfilling Bible prophecy and
leading to the imminent return of Christ he now writes:

This is not to say that world events are not very interesting in their alignment
with Bible descriptions of the last days. We are to live as if Christ will return
any moment. I'm simply saying that we cannot dogmatically predict that He will in
terms of Bible prophecies. The overall picture I get is of Israel being overrun
by their Arab enemies which leads to their repentance, and yes there is ample evidence
that scenario is all set up.

What's important is to spread the Gospel worldwide and mature spiritually as a community
so as to 'hasten the coming' ; this week we baptized a Hindu Brahmin in Prague,
Czech, and a former JW from Ust Ilimsk in far northern Siberia... that kind of thing
I'd say is the bigger sign of the Lord's return.

The question it leaves begging though is this: If Christadelphians could have
been so wrong about aspects which are visible and have been tested by time and have
failed, how can we be so sure that their interpretations of doctrine are correct?
For the elements of the community that disfellowship people too we have to ask also
by what authority this has been done. Has it been the divine will of God or
on the basis of their fallible interpretations of the Bible? And what about
the social, emotional and spiritual harm this has caused many folk?

It is good to see that the community though is beginning to acknowledge some of
its past failures and Duncan Heaster deserves credit for his honesty here.

Here is another picture from 1983 showing a billboard proclaiming the imminent return
of Christ: